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| September 6, 2002 | Friday | Jamadi-us-Saani27,1423 |
Jones only 100 metres away from jackpot
BERLIN, Sept 5: Triple Olympic champion Marion Jones needs one last 100 metres victory Friday for a share of the Golden League jackpot.
The American is one of four athletes in contention for 50 kilogrammes of gold divided between those who have won their event at all seven meetings in the showcase series.
Morroco’s Hicham El Guerrouj, the world champion and world record holder for the men’s 1,500 metres, is another safe bet for a piece of the prize worth 530,000 euros ($528,400) while Mexican Ana Guevara is expected to cruise through with a final win in the women’s 400 metres.
The most vulnerable member of the surviving quartet appears to be world 400 metres hurdles champion Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic but his chances received a boost when his main rival, European champion Stephane Diagana of France, pulled out on Thursday.
But only pride will be at stake for Olympic and world 100 metres champion Maurice Greene, who was beaten by Britain’s Dwain Chambers in the opening meeting in Oslo in June.
He has since been defeated three-time by Chambers and will find the European champion standing in his way again in the German capital.
For the local crowd, they will be able to cheer on Olympic 800 metres champion Nils Schumann as he battles it out with world champion Andre Bucher of Switzerland in one of the evening’s highlights.
There will also be plenty of emotion for Germany’s two-times world heptathlon champion Sabine Braun, who will retire after challenging her compatriot Olympic champion Heike Drechsler in the long jump.
The Berlin meeting has a new home this year as its traditional venue, the Olympic stadium, is undergoing a facelift for the 2006 soccer World Cup finals.
The Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Sportpark, on the eastern side of the capital city, is a suitable replacement as 25 world records have been broken there, including a memorable javelin record.
It was in that arena, then located in East Germany, that local favourite Uwe Hohn smashed the 100 metres barrier by throwing the javelin 104.80 metres in 1984.
A new specification implement was introduced two years later, reducing the distances as well as the risk of anybody getting hurt.
It also remains to be seen whether the meeting will ever return to the Olympic stadium as the event is facing financial problems.
The company operating the Berlin meeting filed for insolvency last April and the new promoters are anxiously awaiting a council meeting of ruling body IAAF on Sept 14, at which the Golden League series will be cut from seven to five events.
Monaco should replace Berlin as the final venue while Brussels and Zurich look almost certain to retain their Golden League status. Berlin, London, Oslo, Paris and Rome are fighting for the two remaining spots.—Reuters
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